Physical attributes: Monitoring the world surrounding the device, including altitude, orientation, temperature, humidity, radiation, air quality, noise and vibration

Functional attributes: Higher-level intelligence rooted in the device’s purpose for describing business process or workload attributes

Actuation services: Ability to remotely trigger, change or stop physical properties or actions on the device.

Examples of IoT in action

There are some pretty well-known IoT products that some of you already use, including:

Nest Thermostat (and others). These allow you to control your AC from your phone, anywhere that you can connect to the Internet.

Smart lights: Same concept, but for lights. You can turn lights on/off from your phone. Phillips Hue is an example of this

Bluetooth Trackers – Tile (https://www.thetileapp.com/) is an example of a Bluetooth Tracker. Put one on that thing you always lose (i.e., car keys). The next time you lose those keys, you can find them again via an app on your phone.

Smart power switches – Belkin’s Wemo Insight Wi-Fi Smart Plug is an example. They let you turn the plug (and therefore anything connected to it) on and off, set schedules for the plug, monitor energy consumption and use, etc. You can also connect it to Amazon Alexa and Google Home for hands-free voice control

Health and exercise trackers – Fitbits “fit” into this category, too.

How does IoT affect libraries?

Here are some ways libraries are already incorporating IoT technology into their libraries:

Smart Building Technology: As libraries retrofit their buildings with newer technology (or build new buildings/branches), they are starting to see more IoT-based technology. For example, some libraries can can adjust heating, cooling and lights from a smartphone app. Some newer building monitoring and security systems can be monitored via mobile apps.

RFID: RFID technology (sensors in books) is a type of IoT technology, and has been around for awhile.

Beacon Technology: There are at least two library-focused companies experimenting with Beacon technology (Capira Technologies and Bluubeam).

People counters: Check out Jason Griffey’s Measure the Future project. Here’s what he says about Measure the Future: “Imagine having a Google-Analytics-style dashboard for your library building: number of visits, what patrons browsed, what parts of the library were busy during which parts of the day, and more. Measure the Future is working to make that happen by using open-hardware based sensors that can collect data about building usage that is now invisible. Making these invisible occurrences explicit will allow librarians to make strategic decisions that create more efficient and effective experiences for their patrons.”

Library classes! Libraries are also teaching classes about the Internet of Things. These include classes focused on introducing patrons to IoT technology, and classes that focus on an aspect of IoT, like a class on making things with Arduinos or how to use your new Fitbit.

McClain, R. L. (2014). Construction of a photometer as an instructional tool for electronics and instrumentation. Journal of Chemical Education, 91(5), 747-750.

Musik, P. (2010). Development of computer-based experiment in physics for charging and discharging of a capacitor. Annual International Conference on Computer Science Education: Innovation & Technology, , I111-I116.